Believe it or not, training a cat is not an impossible task. In fact, your kitty will gladly do something they are consistently rewarded for. All of that attitude and independence is nothing compared to the bond they form with you and their desire to please you.
The key to any successful training program with your cat is patience, and lots of it. Any changes to their normal pattern must be done in small increments, making for a smooth transition from one type of behavior to another. Keep in mind that behavior changes often start with us, not our pets. We need to be prepared to change ourselves, and to do what is necessary to support our kitty.
Of course it would be fun to have your kitty fetch or roll over or even dance around on their hind legs. You could work with your cat and accomplish all of these neat tricks you are sure to be a hit at parties.
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Cat Litter Boxes
Next to food, cat litter boxes are about the most important thing to your indoor cat. Cats are fastidious creatures which like to have somewhere clean and fresh to do their toilet. They need plenty of room to move without treading on something they did previously. Toilet Training a Cat
What cat wouldn’t want to avoid having to step into their smelly litter box? It is even more frustrating for a male cat that has not been neutered. The urine has a stronger smell for the male cats who are breeding, because they are marking their territory. Cats Toilet Training
Finding the ability to train your cat to use the house toilet has been an ongoing concept for decades. Over the last several years, such training has become popular. Most people would like to have the smell of that stinky cat litter removed forever from their home. Toss The Litter Box – Toilet Train Your Feline
Often times, the mere smell of someone’s home will reveal whether or not they own a cat. There may not be much worse than the putrid smell of a dirty litter box emanating within a home. Many people would jump at just a chance to eliminate the stench of cat waste altogether. But teaching kitty to do some practical task, like using a regular toilet instead of a litter box, may be a far better use of your time. Think about it, no litter, no mess, no clean up, and no smell!
People have been training their cats where to relieve themselves for years. In fact, any of us who have acquired a new kitten have done this by training them to use the litter box. It is natural for cats to have a place to bury their waste, so the litter box idea seems like the natural thing to do. But training them to use a toilet accomplishes the same fundamental goal making sure the waste does not attract the attention of other animals via sight or smell. And it just makes life so much easier in your home.
There is no doubt that potty training” your feline friend is possible.
But how? Well, you have one of a few options. You can just give it a go if you already have experience training animals. It follows the basic training pattern of behavior modification with reward. Or, you can get a book, either in print or electronically, that walks you through the steps. Or, you can elect to purchase a training system that not only gives you step-by-step instructions, but provides the support materials.
The cost of each option goes up, but so does the ease of use. It will really depend on your temperament, creativity, and patience level. The training systems are by far the easiest, but can set you back $25 to $60. That is much more than the other options but then again, you will realize the cost savings in litter in a short period of time.
The key points to think about before embarking on a course of training your cat to use the toilet are:
• Are you ready to change your own behavior (leave toilet lid up, wait while kitty does her business, etc.)?
• Is your cat likely to handle the change well?
• Do you have the patience for a process that may take several weeks?
• Can you afford a book or training system?
Once you answer these questions, you just need to decide which route seems most likely to work well for you and your kitty. Training a cat to use a toilet can, in the end, be a great benefit your household.
You may recall that I recently had an article posted about whether or not it’s a good idea to compost your cat litter. This time, I’m flipping it around to “can you use your compost as cat litter?”
Cats by nature are very clean animals that prefer to bury their waste. Because of this, cat litter training is usually quite easy to accomplish. More often than not, the mother cat has done the majority of the work already and you just have to show the cat the box, run your fingers through the litter a few times and – voila! – your work is done.